Microsoft Is Shutting Down Cortana On Multiple Devices, Including iOS and Android

At Microsoft's Ignite conference in late 2019, the company said it was planning to shut down its standalone Cortana mobile apps as it refocuses on business users. Microsoft today is following through with that plan, announcing that it will shut down the current Cortana iOS and Android apps, end Cortana support for the Harman Kardon Invoke smart speaker, and remove the original Cortana functionality from the first-generation Surface Headphones starting in 2021. The Verge reports: These changes are still a few months away, but it marks another big step for Microsoft in pivoting Cortana away from a Google Assistant or Alexa alternative to a more specialized, productivity-focused assistant -- changes the company has already started making on the Windows 10 version of Cortana earlier this year. (To that end, Microsoft also put a September 7th date on the already-announced sunsetting of third-party Cortana skills for Windows.) Instead, Microsoft will be focusing on its productivity features that repurpose Cortana as a part of the Microsoft 365 suite of software, citing the revamped Windows 10 functions and integrated Cortana features in the Outlook and Teams apps as replacements. It's not as full-featured as the original Cortana -- which offered additional functions like smart home controls and music integration -- but by offering a less broad set of features, Microsoft is hoping to create a product that better complements its existing software and competes less directly with established players like Google and Amazon.

Microsoft is also offering a consolation offer of a $50 gift card for Harman Kardon Invoke owners, who'll be most impacted by the removal of Cortana -- which effectively will turn the formerly smart device into a pricey Bluetooth speaker when the firmware update arrives next year. Owners of the original Surface Headphones (who will also see their Cortana experience removed) are also being offered a $25 gift card to make up for the missing service.

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[awwshit]

Some people like to get all up in the poo. I hear that John McAfee is into that.

In other news...

[NateFromMich]

Cortana apparently was on Android and iOS.

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[oldgraybeard]

Wow and no one cared. Duh

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[ssufficool]

It was nice to have options for voice assistants.

1) Google Assistant: Collects and sells information for purposes of feeding you better ads
2) Alexa: Collects and shares information for purposes of feeding you better ads about Amazon products
3) Cortana: Collects and shares information for ????

Meh. I only talk to my phone to turn on the lights and get the weather anyway.

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[unixisc]

Yeah, when Windows Phone died, I expected that it wouldn't be too long before Cortana followed. Why would someone put Cortana over Siri or Alexa on their phone? Does anybody use Cortana on their Windows 10 laptop while doing a search?

Bring back Tay

[awwshit]

Please tell me they are bringing back Tay in Cortana's place.

I can still get it on my Zune, right?

[rsilvergun]

and my Windows 8 phone?

I've got it on mine!

[DogDude]

-Posted with a Windows Phone.

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[unixisc]

How about a Windows 10 Mobile phone?

And nothing of value was lost

[Tailhook]

Difficult to imagine a better use for that trope.

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[Trogre]

Came here to post this.

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[AmiMoJo]

Value was lost, that's why they are offering gift certificates. In countries with better consumer laws this should be enough to get a substantial refund or return the items since they are now broken and cannot be repaired.

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[unixisc]

Really? I have a Windows 10 Phone that I no longer use, but that's not b'cos of Cortana: it's b'cos Microsoft seemed to have disabled the WiFi recognition capabilities of that phone

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[AmiMoJo]

Where do you live and how old is the phone?

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[unixisc]

In Virginia. That phone was one of the last Lumia phones microsoft produced - the Lumia 550. It was one of the 2 models that came out w/ Windows 10 Mobile

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[AmiMoJo]

Ah, sorry, I don't know what consumer laws are like there. Based on the age you could probably get a few bucks in the UK towards a replacement phone.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[unixisc]

Windows Phones would have been a great business platform, had Microsoft included in it something equivalent to FaceTime (at the time, there was no WhatsApp video calling). Had Microsoft included that, as well as integration w/ some things like Exchange, SharePoint, et al, they'd have done a lot better

Thanks for this important message

[Opportunist]

I mean, let's be honest, without, nobody here would ever have known.

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[rtb61]

They know now, here is a fifty dollar voucher to pay for the $500 dollar speaker we are breaking on purpose, would you like a kick in the testicles with that and for those who identify as female, we offer a cunt punt instead. I think, you broke it, you bought it, is far more appropriate and fair. They should buy the speakers they are breaking on purpose.

Wise step

[OneHundredAndTen]

Now shut down Microsoft, and you will have attained enlightenment.

Product Refunds in some countries

[Canberra1]

People in New Zealand can simply return their goods to point of sale, saying they stopped working. Other countries may have similar consumer protection laws. And a remote control that does not get lost nor need batteries is worth more than $25, especially quadriplegics and disabled people. That's going to make Microsoft's partners bitter. What galls some is that that the press release was not picked up for being a lie. They are still working on it, and all inputs and outputs are the same. All you got to do is cross-compile the program for a different platform, that they did before. Choosing to EOL the product probably means a deal between MS and Google/Android changed, and that the anti-competition and monopoly commission is not aware of it. Now only Google will hear 'Darling, I think we need a new car' to start push flogging sponsors who pay richly to be the proverbial fly on the wall. Looking backwards, Microsoft lost the browser wars, It lost the search engine wars, it lost the mobile os wars, it lost the voice assistant wars, it lost the self driving car wars, it lost the IOT everywhere/AKA Android, and arguably lost the Web based office software wars. Notably Google picking most of these gongs. Oh, and lost Facebook and Zoom wars. Plus Microsoft's push ad's and background spyware is meeting some resistance. Microsoft is firmly on the technical decline.

Re: Product Refunds in some countries

[blastard]

Second item I own that Microsoft has disabled. First my Band and now the Invoke. You may fault me for trusting Microsoft, but the sound on the Invoke is very good. I bought my Band long before the iWatch came out.

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[OolimPhon]

Microsoft is firmly on the technical decline.

Ah, but does Netcraft confirm it?

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[unixisc]

How open ended are such laws? If you bought something in 2015 and did get a fair amount of use out of it, can you still return it saying that it no longer works?

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[Orrin Bloquy]

If you use Teams you have little incentive to use Zoom unless you must include people outside your org. Teams is considerably better than Slack and I say this as someone who likes Slack. And as web based office software is concerned, Google documents has regressed in terms of utility, plays poorly with the structure and formatting from Office/LibreOffice docs, and is at best suitable for undergraduate papers.

I have no disagreement with your other points and would add that PowerApps are substantially underwh

Good news.

[Fly Swatter]

It sounds like Windows phone will get to keep it!

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[mikeebbbd]

Only if it's older than Windows 10. Otherwise: one of those rare out-of-support critical updates to remove it?

As a practical matter, I've always tried to keep Cortana deaf, blind. and mute on anything other than a Windows Phone. I never installed it on Android, and I keep the Google Assistant more or less at bay too. In the past, in desktop Win10, that was a matter of a couple of settings. In Win10 2004, Cortana became impossible to shut up - constantly demanding my MS Account login (even though was already

Wait, this seems familiar...

[ssufficool]

"Instead, Microsoft will be focusing on its productivity features that repurpose Cortana as a part of the Microsoft 365 suite of software..."

Cortana: "Hi. It appears you are writing an article about a feature that was previously rejected from MS Office. I can help you with that."

I tried Cortana, I really did

[bobcat7677]

I had low expectations as probably most people did given Microsoft's track record with digital assistants. But I had to at least give it a try. So I tried using it to open programs, get me the weather, find files and a few other things. In all cases it was a complete and udder failure. Even my lowest expectations were not met. Everything I said was mis-interpreted to mean something completely different and frustratingly unhelpful. Then despite the fact that I just didn't want to use it anymore, it was

Admission of Defeat

[drinkypoo]

It's not as full-featured as the original Cortana -- which offered additional functions like smart home controls and music integration -- but by offering a less broad set of features, Microsoft is hoping to create a product that better complements its existing software and competes less directly with established players like Google and Amazon.

Just like terminating the Zune, this has nothing to do with creating a better product, and everything to do with incompetence. Microsoft has discovered that it can't compete with those companies because those other companies are more competent, so they're throwing in the towel — again.

One can hope that they will come to the same realization in every other market they're in, since they aren't the best at anything that they do, and just go out of business.

Microsoft conference

[Alfred Herman Schrad]

There is a humungous super computer hidden under the Microsoft campus called "The One". Does anyone one know it's computing power ? Terabytes, clock speed etc ? Alfred Herman Schrader

Device design

[Kenneth242]

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